AsBAA Delivers Inaugural Student Chapter Presentation at (HKU) Hong Kong University – Inspiring the Next Generation of Business Aviators

AsBAA, the Asian region’s non-for-profit largest representative body for business aviation has today delivered its inaugural Student Chapter presentation to a group of MBA students at the Hong Kong University. The HKU presentation will act as a pilot for subsequent Student Chapter careers activities, and forms part of a wider scheme to inspire, educate and guide the next generation of business aviators in Asia.

The high energy presentation also saw students enter an Instagram photo competition with the AsBAA mascot and hashtag, #AsBAAStudentChapter, and an opportunity to win a coveted career based mentorship was announced. The prize, which has been donated by AsBAA leaders and CEOs within the industry includes: interview skills and technique training, careers advice, and an industry summer internship placement.

AsBAA, which represents approximately 100 corporate entities related to business aviation in Greater China and South East Asia has developed the Student Chapter initiative to protect the recruitment interests of the industry at the grassroots level. Student Chapter lead and AsBAA Board of Governor, Ty Dubay shared, “AsBAA is well placed to deliver impartial advice to students interested in learning more about a career in business aviation. We are working closely with numerous leading universities in the region and have developed a careers advice programme to provide the student population with an exclusive insight into the world of business aviation in Asia. What we hope will come of this is increased awareness of the opportunities that exist in our industry, and spur more graduates and mature students to consider and choose a career in corporate aviation.”

The #AsBAAStudentChapter is the latest idea that has been developed to give students more information about getting into a career in business aviation across Asia. It has also been launched to counter the issue of an ageing workforce in aviation. AsBAA Board of Governor, Mike Walsh said, “Business aviation like its big brother commercial Aviation is jointly facing an unprecedented issue of an aging talent pool and shrinking numbers of new graduates entering the industry. The flip side of this potential problem is a real opportunity for the next generation to consider entering the business, and enjoy job security, escalated career progression, stability and very promising/exciting fringe benefits.”

Jane Wang In-house Counsel & Business Development at Asia Sky Group a long standing AsBAA member commented on the opportunities for women in aviation, “this is traditionally a very male dominated industry; however, as we’ve seen through AsBAA’s Women in Aviation series, there are many varied job opportunities for women too. What I hope the students of HKU will take away from today is that there are significant career prospects within business aviation. This extends to multiple business areas including: finance, legal, engineering, business development, IT & new technologies, composite materials development, PR, relationship management, logistics, sales/marketing and many more. Through the Student Chapter, AsBAA is working to facilitate that awareness and progress.”

AsBAA Chairman, Charlie Mularski commented, “We’re really proud to be speaking on behalf of the industry at HKU and we thank the University for this opportunity to share our vision and work more closely with the educational sector. We’ll remain committed to ensuring that the next generation of talent has access to the information it needs to get a head start in a business aviation career. Looking at the wider picture, this is working towards a win-win solution: job security for graduates and young people in Hong Kong, and talent security for the industry across Greater China & SE Asia.”

The AsBAA Student Chapter has so far engaged 8 universities in mainland China, and several in Hong Kong, including HKU and CUHK. The next presentation will be held at CUHK on 3 March 2016, and will soon expand to cover South East Asia, starting with the Singapore based Student Chapter followed by Indonesia and Malaysia. If you would like your University to be visited by AsBAA, get in touch.

For further information about AsBAA, its achievements and activities connect with AsBAA on YouTube and Twitter.